by Laurel Veil
“Hey,” she said when she opened the door. She seemed to be in a good mood which was a welcomed surprise. I expected puffy eyes and tears. “There’s pizza on the table.”
I went into the kitchen and grabbed a slice. I hated to bring it up since she wasn’t talking about it, but now I was curious. “So,” I took a bite and a seat, “have you heard from Kayne?”
“Susan called this morning. She was there last night. She saw him with some girl that graduated like two years ago. So . . . whatever.”
She was taking it surprisingly well, I thought. I noticed there was a photo album on the table. I reached over and opened it. The photographs were of her and Lance when they were little. “These are great,” I said as I continued to flip through the pages. “Aw, Lance the scientist,” I said fondly of a picture of him standing proudly by the shelves in his room. They were loaded with jars filled with things like frogs, insects, rocks, and worms. “I know he’s a brainiac, but I never realized what a nerd he was way back then.”
Autumn leaned over to have a look and smiled. “Seems like a million years ago.”
“I think I helped him collect just about all of that.” I laughed. “Does he still have his collections?”
She nodded. “They’ve grown!”
“I stopped helping him when he started collecting carcasses.” I crinkled my face and waved my hand back and forth in front of my nose, remembering the stench.
Autumn laughed. “Those skeletons helped him win several science fairs,” she said proudly.
“Hey, then I should’ve gotten some of the credit—at least a small trophy or maybe a few points to help out my average.” I laughed but Autumn looked bored now, so I closed the album and changed the subject. “You’ll never guess who I saw the other night.”
Autumn’s brows furrowed. “Who?”
“Jason.”
“Jason?” I nodded. “Who’s that?” I stared at her. “You mean, dad?”
“If you say so,” I said flatly.
“Are you serious?” I nodded. “Since when do you call him Jason?”
I shrugged. “So, I guess that means he didn’t stop by over here?”
“No,” she said very defensively. The look in her eyes frightened me.
I hadn’t spent a significant amount of time with Autumn for so long, I’d forgotten just how volatile she could be. For crying out loud, I wasn’t trying to make her jealous. I just wanted to share what had happened. If I didn’t tell her, and somehow, she found out, she would’ve accused me of hiding it. This was probably going to be the last time we hung out for a while, I thought because I no longer had the strength to tiptoe on eggshells to keep from accidentally setting her off. I sighed. “He only stopped by my place because he was trying to mooch.”
“Oh, really?” she practically purred. And just like that, everything was suddenly better. Instead of being hurt for me, she was pleased that daddy dearest hadn’t chosen me over her.
“Yeah. He wanted a place to stay.”
“And you turned him away?” she asked incredulously.
If she had been wearing pearls, she would’ve been clutching them. Her fake outrage made me want to smack her. “Are you kidding me, Autumn?” I could never win with her. I was always damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. If I had allowed him to stay, she would’ve called me an idiot. I had turned him away though, so now that made me heartless. “In case you forgot, we haven’t seen him or even heard from him in years.”
I was grateful when Lance interrupted. “How come you didn’t tell me there was pizza?” He grabbed a piece and sat down.
“Because it wasn’t for you, pig,” said Autumn.
The next thing I knew we were reminiscing about old times and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt.
Lance’s hair was gelled, and he smelled of cologne, which prompted Autumn to ask, “So where are you going?”
“The park. There’s going to be a huge party. You guys should come.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” said Autumn.
I thought it sounded more fun than being stuck there. I began to dread how long this night might drag on for. I thought about saying I didn’t feel good so I could go home and crawl in bed with Lady and Rascal. I wished Nolan was home.
“Why not?” said Lance.
“Because Kayne will probably be there. And he probably won’t be alone. I don’t need to see that.”
“They always say the best way to get over somebody is to go do it with someone new.” He then let out a long, deep belch.
“No one says that. And ewwww. At least cover your mouth.” He laughed. “We’re going to stay here,” said Autumn.
“And do what?” he asked sharply as if it were the stupidest thing he’d ever heard.
“Girl stuff. We’re going to talk and, I don’t know, do what we used to do. We may even drag out some of our old board games.”
“Sounds thrilling.”
As soon as Lance was gone, we cleared the table and set up Monopoly and got caught up on everything that had been going on in our lives. After nearly an hour and a half, we decided we needed a break and went for ice cream.
When we got back, Autumn took a beer out of the fridge. “Want one?” she asked.
“With ice cream? No thanks.” I didn’t want one anyway. Because of my mom, I never had the urge to drink.
“More for me then.” She laughed and downed it. She brought another one to the table and sipped on it while we played. Autumn got louder and sillier as the minutes passed and the next thing I knew, she hopped up, flipped on the radio, and started dancing. Before I knew what was happening, she was pulling me up and I was dancing too.
I couldn’t believe how fun the night was turning out. “We should do this more often,” I said.
“For sure!” She laughed. “Oh, I know. Quick, close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Close your eyes and count to ten and come find me!”
I couldn’t believe we were playing hide-and-go-seek! I counted in my head. “OK! Ready or not, here I come!” Luckily, Autumn’s house was one story, so I wouldn’t have to look that much. But it was dark, so it was kind of creepy. I started switching on lights as I made my way around. I heard her laughing in her closet. I whipped the door open and yelled, “Gotcha!”
She screamed and started laughing. “OK! Your turn!” She pulled me by the hand and led me to the kitchen, downed the rest of her drink, and then shut her eyes and started counting. I took off quickly and, in a panic, I ran into Lance’s room. Autumn wasn’t kidding when she’d said his collections had grown. It was more like a museum or a laboratory than a bedroom.
“Ready or not, here I come!”
I quickly slid under the bed. I tried to lay still when I saw Autumn’s feet walk across the floor, but my hand bumped something hairy that was under what looked like a bunched-up towel and I almost screamed. Pepper. I calmed down and hoped the fussy cat wouldn’t give me away. When I saw Autumn head back out the door, I lifted the towel so I could pet her. I was startled when I quickly realized that it wasn’t Pepper. It was a small wig or a piece of one. A woman’s wig. I started to feel creeped out. It looked so real. So natural. It was soft and blonde and the ringlets . . .
I suddenly felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I flipped it over. The hair wasn’t sewn into cloth. It was attached to something that looked dried out, like leather. A scalp. I knew at that very moment it was Dani’s hair. I felt the urge to vomit as I covered it up and slid out from under the bed. My hands were shaking, and my cheeks were flushed with heat. I couldn’t let Autumn know what I’d just discovered. I stayed in Lance’s room to give myself a minute to calm down.
“I give up!” she yelled from the kitchen. She was getting another beer. I could hear her popping the top. I was glad she was tipsy so she wouldn’t notice that I was upset. It would make it easier to leave too. Just then I heard the back door open. “What are you doing back so early?” I heard her ask someone. Was it he
r parents?
“Are you drunk?” It was Lance!
I took a deep breath and hoped I could get out of his room before he saw me.
“There she is!” said Autumn. “Where were you hiding?”
Lance looked at me funny. “Hiding?”
“We were—” Autumn accidentally burped, covered her mouth, and then began laughing hysterically.
I tried to change the subject. “You better take it easy. You don’t want to feel sick in the morning.”
“I’m fine.” She swayed and then looked at Lance. “So why are you home so early?”
He shrugged. “It sucked.”
“Seeeee,” she dragged out the word as she put her arm around me, “you should've stayed home with us. We got ice cream and played Monopoly and hide-and-go-seek.” She looked at me. “Hey! Wait a second.” Shit! She remembered. “I couldn’t find you. Where were you hiding?”
“Under your bed, goofball.”
She busted out laughing.
I rolled my eyes at Lance. “I gotta get going.”
I couldn’t walk fast enough. My hands were shaking so hard I almost couldn’t get the key in the ignition. Even when I was on the road, I still felt like I was on the verge of hyperventilating. What was I going to do? I couldn’t simply call 911, could I? Officer Harvey was obviously not at work. Then it hit me. The first time I’d met him when he came to the door asking about Dani, he’d given my grandma his card. The second I pulled into the driveway I ran into the house and straight into the den. “Oh please, Grandma. Please. Please,” I whispered to myself as I flipped through her address book. The puppies were so loud now, I quickly let them in from off the back porch. “Quiet down,” I pleaded. In desperation, I turned the address book over and shook it. I almost cried when the tiny white rectangular card fell to the rug.
I picked it up. There were multiple numbers on it—including his home number! With trembling hands, I called. On about the fifth ring he answered. “Officer Harvey.”
I was so relieved to hear him on the other end of the line. “Officer Harvey.” I didn’t recognize my own voice. It was as shaky as my hands.
“Who’s this?”
“This is Noelle—” I started to cry and then stopped myself. “I-I—”
“Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.”
I explained to him how I’d been at Autumn’s house and how we’d played hide-and-go-seek. And then I tearfully told him what I’d discovered under the towel in Lance’s bedroom. “Maybe I’m wrong, Officer Harvey. Maybe that’s not what it was. I hope I’m wrong. I—” Just then Lady and Rascal starting yapping and ran to the kitchen. I’d rushed in so quickly. Did I lock the door? “I-I think someone’s here.” I laid the phone down. I could faintly hear Officer Harvey calling my name.
I held my breath and silently made my way down the hallway. Lady and Rascal were quiet now. I peeked slowly around the corner. Nolan was hunched down petting them. “Nolan, you scared me to death.” I was so relieved to see him. When he stood up and turned around, I prayed that I would disappear. “Lance?” I tried to hide my fear. I wasn’t supposed to be afraid of him. I wasn’t supposed to know what he had hidden under his bed. “W-what are you doing here?”
“Autumn told me you had puppies. I wanted to see them.” He smiled.
“This late at night? And you just let yourself in?”
“It was unlocked.” He shrugged. “I knocked. I guess you didn’t hear.” His expression was different now. His smile had slipped from his lips.
“Why are you really here?”
I could have sworn something in his eyes changed. They were darker now. “It just seemed like you were acting a little off to me. You were in an awfully big hurry to leave.”
“I needed to get home to my dogs, and Autumn was getting drunk and really annoying. Speaking of Autumn, shouldn’t you be home taking care of her?”
He laughed. “Oh, I did.” The way he said it sounded ominous.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t worry. She’s fine. I put her to bed before I came here.” He smirked. “You know? The one you were hiding under.”
All I could do was stare at him. I couldn’t blink, much less move.
“Autumn has a waterbed,” he said flatly.
“So?”
“There’s no space under it. There’s nowhere to hide.”
He knows!
He lunged forward and grabbed my arms. I managed to break away from his grip, but he still held onto my shirt. Rascal and Lady almost tripped me when I pulled free and ran into the den. They didn’t understand. They thought we were playing. I stopped running when I realized Lance hadn’t followed me. He must’ve gone around the other way and was waiting for me in the hallway. I looked at the back door. It was locked. He would hear me and reach me before I ever managed to get it open. I turned around and decided to head back into the kitchen. There was at least a chance Lance hadn’t locked the front door and I could run out of it and head to Nolan’s. Rascal and Lady were jumping on me as I entered the kitchen. There was no way Lance hadn’t heard the commotion and knew exactly where I was. Where was he? Did he leave?
Arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind and shoved me to the floor. I tried in vain to push Lance off, but he was too strong and too heavy. As I struggled to even breathe, all I could think about was Dani. I realized Lance’s hate-filled eyes had been the last thing she saw, and they could very well be the last thing I ever saw as well. He was squeezing my neck so tightly now; Rascal and Lady’s yapping was replaced with a ringing sound.
My vision had just started to fade to black when a police officer burst through the door. A moment later, I was gasping for air and Lance was lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back. When I saw Officer Harvey’s familiar face, I began to cry.
♦ ♦ ♦
Nolan’s mom soon showed up and draped a blanket around my shoulders. She rubbed my arm as I sat next to her on the couch and explained to her what had happened.
A little while later Officer Harvey sat down across from us. “Did you go to his house? Did you find it?” I asked.
“Yes. I had people going there at the same time we were heading here.”
“So . . . was it?”
He closed his eyes and nodded.
21.
I stayed with Nolan’s mom that night. She let Rascal and Lady stay too. The next morning, she drove me to the police station to give an official statement about what had happened.
Reluctantly, I left her sitting in the waiting room when they called my name. It didn’t take very long and when I was done, the person who’d questioned me left the room and Officer Harvey stepped inside to check on me. “How you holding up?” he asked.
“I’ll be OK. So,” I nervously picked at my fingernails, “the woman who was just here, she told me Lance confessed last night to killing Dani.” He nodded and pulled up a chair. “I don’t understand. Why? Why did he do it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think any of us will ever be able to truly understand why.”
“Didn’t someone ask him?”
He exhaled. “How close were you two? I mean, I know he’s Autumn’s half-brother, but did you guys spend a lot of time together?”
“Yes, when we were younger.” I explained about the tension I had with Autumn and her mom as I got older. “So, we grew apart.”
“Did you know about his, collections?”
I smiled. “I helped him with a bunch of them.” I felt tears prick my eyes when I thought of the two of us chasing grasshoppers on summer days and lightning bugs at night. “He’s so smart. Even when he was little.” I sniffled. “We always said he was going to grow up to be a scientist or a doctor of some kind. I still can’t believe it. There’s got to be some kind of mistake. He was so kind. So sweet.”
“We started going through his room last night. Let’s just say his collections got . . . darker.”
“I know.” His brows ra
ised with surprise. “You’re talking about the animals—the skeletons?” I continued. “I didn’t help with those. But I knew about them. He used to collect carcasses from the side of the road. He liked to study their bones. He also kept their hides. He liked collecting feathers too.”
“We found all that. But there were things—animals—that died more recently. I’m not going to go into the details, but he seemed to have a real fascination for what they looked like on the inside. And we have reason to believe he didn’t find them dead.” I could hear him swallow. “Did you ever witness any cruelty?”